Things that a preteen will never experience…

I’ve been looking through mounds of research on Generation Z, which encompasses pretty much all of the current participants in children’s and student ministries. The research on this age group is fascinating and jaw-dropping. I’m going to try to blog more on this in the coming posts. But that’s another day. Today is a fun, interactive day.

As we talked about this research, my wife and I began to think about the things from our childhood that our daughter will never experience. This led to the top 5 things that a preteen will never experience. Feel free to comment and add others that you think of. I’m working on a prize for the best comment, so make ’em good!

Top 5 things that a preteen will never experience

Preteens will never have to…

#1–Wait a week to see pictures because the film needs to be developedRemember dropping off a canister of film and coming back a week later to find photos that you had taken 9 months before. Remember taking the picture with you 8 lb camera and thinking everything looked great only to find out after “development” that everyone’s eyes were closed. Or worse, remember opening the back of the camera before rewinding the film and losing everything…Epic Fail!

#2–Get information for school projects from Britannica, World Book, or Funk and Wagnall’sCome on, you remember encyclopedias. I recall that all my school projects were on eskimos, the Emancipation Proclamation, England, volcanoes, Venus, or Venezuela. Why? Because my older brother and sister had lost every volume except “E” and “V” of our Funk and Wagnall’s Encyclopedia set.

#3–Purchase their favorite music on something called a cassette tapeMy 16 year-old nephew just got a 1994 GMC Sierra. This truck baffled him because it had a tape deck. The poor kid is going to miss out on the devastation of having your favorite tape eaten by the cassette player. (Side note: Sony stopped the manufacturing of the Sony Cassette Walkman because of the rise in digital downloads of music. When did they catch on and stop production? OCTOBER 2010!)

#4–Turn on the computer, connect to the World Wide Web, go eat dinner with the family, and return an hour later to find that it is still dialing-up a connectionIf you lived through dial-up then you probably can still hear the screech and ping of your dial up connection. If you are one of the fortunate ones and happen to live in California, New York, Washington, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Rhode Island–you can still get unlimited free access through a dialup connection. Well…what are you waiting for? Go sign up for that free internet!

#5–Be Kind and RewindLong gone are the days of penalties and fines for not rewinding the 7⅜” × 4″ × 1″ plastic box known as the VHS Cassette. Also long gone are the days of sitting in the movie rental parking lot whittling off the tip of your finger as you try to avoid the 25 cent fine by manually rewinding.

So there is our top 5. I’m sure there are some other great ones. Comment below and share your memory of the past that preteens will never experience!

5 responses to Things that a preteen will never experience…

They’ll never know the unspeakable joy of recording their favorite song off the radio. They’ll also miss out on many opportunities — like staying out in the neighborhood past dark to play hide-n-seek — because we won’t allow them to do that anymore. And whatever happened to cap guns? those were the best. OK, now I’m old, but I’m sure a preteen would tell me that regardless.

Yes, I do remember leaving a blank tape in the stereo in the hopes that the DJ would play the song and that I would have time to hit record.If I’m not mistaken, I think you can still get a cap gun in the little toy section of the grocery store. Cap guns and whoopie cushions are always there–probably same ones that were there in the 80s!

Here are just a few things my kids will never get to experience that were faves from my childhood: 1. Cartoons being the HIGHLIGHT of the week because we had to wait until Saturday morning to watch cartoons. 2. Waiting in line all night , in any kind of weather, just hoping to get the best seats to the next great concert. I remember specifically doing this for Bon Jovi. 3. Being dropped off at the mall at age 13-14 to spend the day with friends. Walking around the mall, going to Farrell’s for dinner and then the movie before our parents picked up. 4. Being so excited when the boy/girl you liked actually asked for your HOME number.. and called you.. asked to speak to you.. and actually TALKED to you rather than texting, emailing, or one of 7 other forms of communication. Those are just a few that I am sure my kids will never get to experience. I will think of more. Those are just a few.. I am sure I will think of many more. 🙂

1. Most of them will never use a pay phone.2. They can’t remember when 9/11 really happened.3. They don’t remember a world without facebook.4. The names Zach Morris and Screech Powers mean nothing to them.

1. Most of them will never use a pay phone.2. They can’t remember when 9/11 really happened.3. They don’t remember a world without facebook.4. The names Zach Morris and Screech Powers mean nothing to them.